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Bobby Abreu
Bob Kelly Abreu (nicknamed El Comedulce) (born March 11, 1974 in Maracay, Aragua State, Venezuela) is a Major League Baseball right fielder who plays for the New York Yankees. Abreu is a 2-time all-star, who has won a Gold Glove Award and a Silver Slugger Award. He has led his league in games (twice), doubles, and triples. Through 2006 he was 7th among active ballplayers in on base percentage (.412), and 13th in stolen bases (271). In the first 6 years of the 2000s, he was 2nd in the major leagues in doubles (222), 4th in walks (546), 5th in stolen bases (157), 8th in runs (540), 10th in hits (874), and 11th in on base percentage (.412). Career Abreu started his major league career with the Houston Astros on September 1, 1996. He played only 74 games over two seasons. Left unprotected in the 1997 expansion draft when Houston decided to keep fellow Venezuelan outfielder Richard Hidalgo, Abreu was selected by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, but minutes later he was traded to the Phillies for shortstop Kevin Stocker. Despite the fact that both the Astros and Devil Rays deemed him expendable, Abreu firmly established himself as one of the most promising young hitters and strong-armed right fielders in the game. In 1998, his first season with the Phillies, Abreu led his team with a .312 batting average and collected 17 home runs, 74 RBI, and 19 stolen bases in 151 games, with 271 putouts and 17 assists in right field. In 1999, he made a brief run at the batting title. His .335 career-high average that season ranked 3rd in the National League and was the highest posted by a Phillies player since outfielder Tony González hit .339 in 1967. His .446 career-high OBP was also 3rd in the league. In 2000 he was 4th in the league in triples (10), 6th in doubles (42), 7th in walks (100), and 9th in obp (.416). In 2001 Abreu led the NL in games played (162), and was 3rd in walks (106), 4th in stolen bases (36) and doubles (48), and 8th in runs (118) and sacrifice flies (9). He also hit a career-high 31 home runs and had a career-high 110 RBIs. In 2002 he led the league in doubles (50), and was 6th in walks (104), 7th in stolen bases (31) and intentional walks (13), 8th in obp (.413), 9th in hits (176), and 10th in runs (102). In 2003 Abreu was 4th in the league in walks (109), 7th in sacrifice flies (7), 8th in obp (.409), and 9th in stolen bases (22). Finally, in 2004, he got his first All-Star berth, being voted in as the National League All-Star Final Vote winner in online voting on MLB.com. Abreu finished the season with a .301 average, 30 home runs, and 105 RBI, and ranked among the National League top 5 in 5 offensive categories: runs (4th, 118) -- the 3rd time in 6 years that he scored 118 runs, doubles (4th, 47), stolen bases (3rd, 40--a career high), walks (2nd, 127--a career high) and on base percentage (5th, .428). In 2004 Abreu also led the major leagues in pitches-per-plate-appearance (4.32) and number of pitches seen (3,077), was 8th highest in the league in total bases (312), and posted the league's 10th-best OPS (.971). 2005 season In May, Abreu was honored as the Player of the Month in the National League, after he hit .396 and 11 home runs. He also led the NL for the month in slugging average (.792), on-base percentage (.535), and walks (30) and was tied for the league lead with 30 RBI. He became the first player in major league history to hit 9 home runs in a 10-game stretch. He was voted a starter in the NL outfield for the All-Star Game, finishing 2nd in fan voting, behind St. Louis Cardinals Jim Edmonds. At Comerica Park – a field normally considered a "pitcher's park" – Abreu won the Home Run Derby as he set records with 24 home runs in a single round, and 41 overall, topping Miguel Tejada's previous marks of 15 and 27, set a year earlier. Abreu's longest homer was measured at 517', the second longest in Derby history. In 2005 Abreu led the major leagues in pitches per plate appearance (4.39), number of pitches seen (3,159), and games played (162), and was 2nd in walks (117) and times on base (291), 4th in sacrifice flies (8), 5th in intentional walks (15), 7th in runs (104), stolen bases (31), and OBP (.405), 9th in strikeouts (104), and 10th in RBIs (102). He also won a Gold Glove Award, for defensive excellence in the outfield. 2006 season On July 30, 2006, Abreu was traded along with the late Cory Lidle to the New York Yankees for minor leaguers shortstop C.J. Henry (a 2005 1st round draft pick), left-hander Matt Smith (a 7-year minor league veteran), catcher Jesus Sanchez, and right-hander Carlos Monasterios -- all low-level prospects in the Yankee organization. Legendary Philadelphia Daily News columnist Bill Conlin referred to the trade as "the Great Gillick Giveaway" and declared it "an unvarnished disaster." Surprisingly, the Phillies improved after the Abreu trade, and made a run for the National League wild card. Abreu fit very well into the Yankees lineup. Abreu hit .330 with 7 home runs and 42 RBIs as a Yankee in the 2006 season. Abreu and the Yankees ran away with the AL East division title by mid-September 2006. But, the Yankees were eliminated by the Detroit Tigers in the 2006 American League Division Series. In 2006 Abreu led the major leagues in walks (124), pitches per plate appearance (4.45), and number of pitches seen (3,056), and was 2nd in the major leagues in percent of plate appearances that were walks (18.5%),http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=1&season=2006 and led the NL in percentage of pitches taken (66.2), and in walks per plate appearance (.181), 3rd in batting average on balls in play (.375),http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=1&season=2006 8th in on base percentage (.424), 18th in stolen bases (30), and 19th in doubles (41). Awards *1996 Houston Astros Minor League Player of the Year *1999 Winter League All-Star OF *1999 Winter League Player of the Year *1999 Philadelphia Phillies Player of the Year *2000 Philadelphia Phillies Player of the Year *2001 Philadelphia Phillies Player of the Year *2004 NL Silver Slugger Award (OF) *2004 All-Star *2005 Player of the Month -- April *2005 NL Golden Glove Award (OF) *2005 All-Star *2005 Winner of the Home Run Derby at the MLB All-Star game. (41 home runs over 3 rounds) In the community Abreu was involved in many events in the Philadelphia and Delaware Valley communities. In 2001, he was the Honorary Chairman for the American Red Cross Blood Drive. Abreu bought $10,000 worth of tickets to most Friday night games for children in his "Abreu's Amigos" organization during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. In this program, the children got jerseys, coupons for concessions, and chances to meet Bobby Abreu on the field during batting practice. Bobby was also the 2004 recipient of the Phillies Community Service award and the Phillies' representative for MLB's Roberto Clemente Award. Bobby is known as "El Comedulce" in Venezuela. The name translates roughly to "the candy-eater," which had been his father Nelson Abreu's nickname. Following Nelson's death, Bobby "began asking people to call him the same name as a way of honoring his father's memory." See also * 30-30 club * List of NL Silver Slugger Winners at Outfield * [[List of players from Venezuela in Major League Baseball|List of players from Venezuela in MLB]] * Top 500 home run hitters of all time * List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs References External links * \ Category:National League All-Stars Category:Houston Astros players Category:Philadelphia Phillies players Category:New York Yankees players Category:Major league right fielders Category:2006 World Baseball Classic players of Venezuela Category:30-30 club Category:Gold Glove Award winners Category:Venezuelan baseball players Category:1974 births Category:Living people